


Welcome to the Family

by marsellia_rose



Category: 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apocalypse, F/M, Gen, Kidnapping, Mind Games, Mindfuck, No Proofreading We Die Like Men, Not Canon Compliant, Psychological Horror, Slow Build, Slow Burn, also will we ever hear from the mysterious boyfriend ben again, but not the alien shit, but the ending was shit, creepy dude is creepy, listen i really like this movie, listen idk why i said that im not planning on including him, listen im not a nice person when writing stories, probably ill add more tags later in the story, real talk tho why is Michelle the only character without a last name, though itll be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6700219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsellia_rose/pseuds/marsellia_rose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was three months before anything bad happened.<br/>Three months of mind-numbing domesticity. They were just playing house in the bunker, a tiptoe dance around each other. There was an uncomfortable atmosphere, an unsureness in every action. A constant push and pull of tension. (A constant push-pull of will they won't they. Will they won't they fall apart.)<br/>Howard had the gun: he made the rules. Whatever he wanted, they’d have to do, or he might kill them. Neither of them would be able to fight him off: maybe if they could get the gun, but even then, he was so much bigger than them.<br/>Non canon compliant after the air filtration breaking down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Scream Into the Night and Hope Someone Listens

**Author's Note:**

> Yo so I really liked this movie and I really like John Gallagher Jr but the ending was not what I wanted.
> 
> So anyways this is non canon compliant after the air filtration breaks down. And there will not be aliens.

It was three months before anything bad happened.

Three months of mind-numbing domesticity. They were just playing house in the bunker, a tiptoe dance around each other. There was an uncomfortable atmosphere, an unsureness in every action. A constant push and pull of tension. (A constant push-pull of will they won't they. Will they won't they fall apart)

The air filtration breaking down was almost a relief. At least it was a change of scene. Something new to deal with.

It might not have been comfortable, having to climb through the grate, but at least it got her away from the stiflingness of the bunker. It eventually opened up into what appeared to be a smaller bunker. The generator and air filtration unit were along the wall, with a ladder leading up to a hatch on the ceiling. Walking forward, Michelle noticed an earring on the ground- the same one from the photo of Howard’s daughter. Michelle glanced around, pocketing the earring and frowning. Howard had said his daughter had moved away with her mother several years ago. Just how old was this bunker, for her earring to be down here?

Glancing up at the hatch on the ceiling, she resolved to prove once and for all whether or not he was lying. The lock on the hatch stopped her, and she wondered once again what Howard was so afraid of.

Staring out at the sky, a feeling of dread washed over Michelle. Pushing the door of the hatch back, and running her hand over the window, she realized just how fucked they were.

_HELP._

\--

She made it back fine. But now she was just filled with that fear; fear of Howard, fear of the unknown.

Fear for herself. Fear for Emmett; when did she start caring so much about him?

It was a strange feeling, this dread. The fear of the unknown. Being unsure what was real and what wasn’t, what was all just Howard’s sick game.

What was really happening?

She had to warn Emmett. That much she knew. Whatever was going on, she couldn’t- didn’t want to- handle it on her own. She’d done that before. It never went well.

At the very least, he’d be a sounding board for her own ideas of what to do.

She hadn’t expected him to actually know something useful. But now….a missing girl?

Just who was Howard really, and what was he willing to do? She’d known from the very beginning that he was... _off_ , that there was something not quite right about him, but she’d brushed it off as an unfortunate combination of having lived alone for too long after having a family and being a conspiracy theorist.

But now she wasn’t sure that it wasn’t something more sinister. Clearly...clearly there was something going on that she didn’t understand: after all, he had told her that photo was his daughter.

What she did understand was how helpless she was. Howard had the gun: he made the rules. Whatever he wanted, they’d have to do, or he could kill them. Neither of them would be able to fight him off: maybe if they could get the gun, but even then, he was so much bigger than them.

They couldn’t fight.

What if Howard was right? Maybe the air outside was contaminated.

They couldn’t run.

It was his bunker: he knew it's layout better than anyone.

They couldn’t hide.

What options did they have?

What could they do?

He had the gun. It was his bunker. They didn’t know what was outside.

There was nothing they could do.

They had to do something.

And they had to do it soon: there was no telling when Howard’s mood might suddenly change.

For all they knew, he could decide to kill them- or worse- tomorrow.

He could do whatever he wanted. He had the gun.

They had to get the gun.

“We need to get his gun.” She almost didn’t want to say it out loud. It was insane. How could they possibly get the gun away from Howard?

“How are we gonna do that?” Emmett’s slow drawl had almost become a comfort to her over the past couple of months. It was something that was so distinctly not Howard that she couldn’t help but appreciate it.

“I don’t know.” She wished she had something, anything to offer as a plan, but there was nothing.

“We can’t...” Emmett hesitated, and Michelle was suddenly reminded of when she first woke up, hearing the shouting and then seeing Emmett with bruises as well as his broken arm. He probably knew best of all what Howard was capable of.

“We have to do something.” Michelle reasoned. “As long as he has the gun, he has all the power: we have to do whatever he wants.” A shudder ran through her as she thought about what that could mean for her. Or for Emmett. Howard could do whatever he wanted to them, and they couldn’t do anything about it. “We have to do something.”

“What can we do?” Emmett asked, running his right hand through his hair. “If we’re going to do something we need to have a plan.”

“We’ll have to figure something out. Make a plan when he’s not around.” Michelle glanced down the hall, worried that Howard would be listening in. It wasn’t a large bunker, and however big Howard was he still managed to sneak up on Michelle more than once. “We need to do something.”


	2. Everything Hurts After the End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That’s when it started. When their nightly talks became nightly visits.  
> They tried to be covert about it. Tried to make sure they only hung out in Michelle’s room after Howard was asleep. But it was hard- he never turned out all the lights, and so they were never really sure if he was asleep or not.  
> They tried though.

That’s when it started. When their nightly talks became nightly visits.

They tried to be covert about it. Tried to make sure they only hung out in Michelle’s room after Howard was asleep. But it was hard- he never turned out all the lights, and so they were never really sure if he was asleep or not.

They tried though.

They thought they were smart. They thought they had done it well.

It didn’t occur to them that he might have cameras set up in the bunker.

It didn’t occur to them that he might suspect something else entirely was going on.

In retrospect, they weren’t nearly as smart as they should have been.

But as they say, hindsight’s a bitch.

\--

They still didn’t have a plan.

They met every night- not always to plan, sometimes just to keep each other company- and it’d been weeks now and they’re no closer to having a plan than they were at the beginning. How can they possibly hope to overpower Howard?

Maybe when he’s asleep. But he never seems to sleep, at least not completely. And even then, both Michelle and Emmett acknowledged that Howard is significantly stronger than them, and so if they’re gonna try and overpower him they need to absolutely have the element of surprise, _and_ get his gun before that wears off. And they don’t even know where his gun is.

So they have no plan.

What they did have is an unrelenting fear that Howard would find out what they’re doing.

An unrelenting fear that Howard would lose it. That he would decide they needed to do something for him...with him.

And wasn’t that _really_ Michelle’s fear. That he brought her here on purpose. That he’d do to her whatever he did to Brittany.

Not knowing what he had done to Brittany still weighed heavily on her. It mean she had no way of knowing what he wanted from her, either.

She didn’t tell Emmett, but she was fairly sure his being that was a large part of why nothing bad had happened to her.

Though she also was pretty sure she was the reason he was still alive.

To maintain the illusion that they were a “family”.

Which was insane. _Howard_ was insane.

Which was the overwhelming problem. They had no way of knowing what Howard would do, what he was capable of. Why he wanted to maintain this façade, this pretense of happiness.

It was like that creepy movie, The Stepford Wives.

She didn’t want to become a Stepford wife.

Course, if Howard decided he wanted something, it wouldn’t matter much what she wanted. Or what Emmett wanted. Howard held all the cards, and now they were just waiting for him to let them fall.

He was completely in control. And maybe that was what he got off on, what he wanted, but it didn’t make it any less terrifying. He was completely in control.

“I’m afraid.” Saying it out loud sounded like the greatest understatement in the world. And it wasn't like she was expecting any comfort from Emmett. There wasn't anything he could do- any platitudes would be false, and they both knew it. “And not just of Howard. Of everything. Of the not knowing, the not…”

“The not having any control.” Emmett nodded, leaning back against the wall. They were sitting next to each other on the mattress in Michelle’s room, both staring straight ahead. The stillness almost made it feel more comfortable, as if Howard wasn't in the other room, still posing the greatest threat to them.

But he was.

He was in the other room, and he had the keys and the gun. Even if they wanted to brave the outside air, they couldn’t.

They had no way of knowing whether or not Howard was telling the truth about the air. Even if he was crazy, he could be right about the air. They had no way of knowing. They had no way to gain an upper hand.

And wasn’t that really the main problem. They had no way.

No way to do anything.

No way to be in control. No way to gain control.

Howard had everything.

“What can we possibly do?” Michelle stretched her arms out in front of her, sighing deeply.

“Against Howard?” Emmett turned slightly, facing her. “Nuthin’, I guess.”

“That’s really comforting. Thanks, Emmett.” Michelle laughed quietly, tucking her arms behind her head.

“Glad I could be of some service.” Emmet exhaled deeply, a light smile crossing his face.

“I don’t…” Michelle paused, looking over to where the door was. “There isn’t..” She sighed.

Emmett shook his head. “We have to make sure whatever we do, we don’t upset Howard.” He stopped a minute, then shook his head again. “We have to make sure Howard doesn’t have any reason to be upset with us.”

“But how can we know what will set him off?” Michelle leaned her head on Emmett’s shoulder, sighing deeply.

Emmett held still, not wanted to disturb her. Quietly, he said “We don’t really have any way to know.” He ran his thumb over the palm of his hand, his arms clasped loosely around his drawn up knees. “I guess what just have to make sure he thinks we’re showing him the respect he wants.”

“He’s insane.” It felt dangerous to say out loud. Like he might somehow hear and storm in and take her away.

“He’s insane.” At least she and Emmett were in this together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is a slow build type of story but I promise good (bad) things are coming.


	3. I Just Want to Not Exist in This Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She didn’t notice it at first. She figured Howard just wanted someone to appreciate Meghan’s old things.  
> But even then, she didn’t realize what was really happening.

She didn’t notice it at first.

Howard stopped by her room with a “Thought you might like this.”, dropping off a folded up pile of cloth.

“....” She looked down at it, taking it and running her hands over it. It was sheer silk cloth with pink flowers. “What is it?”

“Drapes.” Howard scratched at his stubble. Michelle glanced around the room. 

“...there’s no windows.” 

“I figured you might like some color in your room.” Howard smiled in a way clearly meant to be comforting. “I know you like fashion, and other pretty things, and I figured it might be nice to have your room be a bit more…” He glanced around the concrete walls. “..girly.”

“Well...thanks..I-I guess?” Michelle smiled tentatively at Howard. He beamed at her.

She reluctantly ended up hanging the curtains across the walls, if only just so he wouldn’t get mad.

Maybe that’s what encouraged him.

But she wouldn’t want to think about what might have happened if she hadn’t hung them.

It was a week before the next one.

“Here.” He thrust something into her hands as she was leaving her room. Inspecting it, she found it to be an antique handheld mirror- the type that was extremely detailed and ornate, with glass and brass details on the back. “Found this in one of the boxes and thought you might like it.”

She turned it over in her hands, inspecting it. It was cracked in the top corner, a slight discoloring staining the edges of the glass. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Howard scratched the side of his stomach. He made no move to stop blocking the doorway.

Setting the mirror down on her table, she made her way back to the door. She paused in front of Howard. “I need to…” She gestured at the doorway. He stared at her for a moment, before nodding.

“Here you go.” He moved out of the way, but only just.

She nodded, sliding past him down the hallway to where Emmett was hovering unsurely.

She figured Howard just wanted someone to appreciate Meghan’s old things.

But even then, she didn’t realize what was really happening.

The third time it happened was two days later. By then, she’d figured out that maybe she should be more concerned.

This time it was a recipe book. “I thought it was about time you learned to cook.” Again, Howard was blocking her from leaving her room, and again, she knew that if she leaned outside the door Emmett would be hovering at the end of the hall.

Howard was holding the cookbook open to a specific page.

Which was how she ended up in the kitchen, making cupcakes with him, while Emmett worked on the puzzle over by the couch.

It was…disquieting, how almost _normal_ this could be. How almost _easy_ it was to fall into this idea of normalcy, this idea that they were this weird happy family that Howard wanted to be.

But she couldn’t fall into this idea. It was dangerous to. That was what Howard wanted- why, she had no idea, but it was what he wanted, and so it was what she had to avoid.

Which made standing her in this cramped kitchen baking fucking _cupcakes_ of all things absurd. Everything about this was absurd. It was like some caricature, some satire of a suburban life.

It was discomforting.

Almost as discomforting as Howard himself.

The man was far too _cheery_.

Far too….jovial about everything. It was terrifying. The…domesticity of it all. The reality that if she didn’t take note of the fact that there were no windows (and a set of stairs leading to the door), it was a domestic scene.

They were baking cupcakes in the kitchen, and Emmett was in the other room working on a puzzle, of all things.

And then the cupcakes were in the oven and they _all_ were working on the goddamn puzzle.

Howard was talking about something- some memory of him and his daughter- but Michelle couldn’t get herself to really focus, to really care. She felt so…empty. Not quite afraid, really, just sort of done. The whole thing was surreal.

She’d probably been down here in the bunker for a little over four months now. Four months since she’d been outside.

Four months ago she’d been living her own life in New Orleans with Ben. She’d had a successful job, and was on her way to being married. Her life was going the way it should.

Then she’d found out about Maggie. About what his staying late at work had really meant. So she’d left. She’d packed up her stuff, left the ring and keys, and driven away. She didn’t really have a plan. Her job was back in New Orleans. Her friends...no, she didn’t really have friends. They were really all Ben’s friends- she wondered if they’d known. They’d all been friends long before her- even Maggie.

And so she ran. It’s what she always did when things got tough.

And now she was stuck in a bunker at the end of the world with a mad man and…well, _Emmett_. He wasn't someone she ever would have paid notice of before, but now the world had ended and he was her only company and well…he wasn’t half bad. She did like him, for better or for worse. He wasn’t nearly as dumb as he thought- he probably would’ve been not too bad off if he’d gone to college.

But..well. Then he wouldn’t be here with her.

In this bunker.

Making goddamn cupcakes. Which were now done.

“Michelle, come help me frost these.” Howard called out from the kitchen. She hadn’t even noticed that he’d moved.

She sighed, turning to Emmett. He shrugged at her. She nodded, more to herself then to him, and pulled herself off the couch.

Looking over at the kitchen, she stopped. She couldn’t….she couldn’t do this alone. “Hey Emmett, you should come frost cupcakes with us.”

The cupcakes should have given it away. Howard frosted his pink with flowers and hearts and gave them to her.

But maybe she was just being dense. Cause while it felt…odd, she still didn’t really realize what was happening.

She didn’t realize till the music box.

It was one of those wooden and metal one’s people gave to their daughters, the type that you can get engraved.

It had an _M_ engraved in the top.

When she opened it, it played music, but the little ballerina was bent sideways, with a matching crack along the side of the box.

“I figured…it has an M on it, and the music it plays is really pretty.” Howard ran a hand over it before handing it to her. “The little ballerina insides broken, I don’t know how that happened.”

“It looks like..” Michelle turned the box over in her hands, looking at the cracks in the side. “It looks like it…” She stopped. There was a reddish tint to the wood where the crack was. “I don’t know what happened to it either.”

“Well, either way, it still plays nice music, and I know Meghan loved it, so…” Howard trailed off, scratching his stomach. “Anyways, I hope you like it.” He walked back down the hall, leaving her standing in her doorway, holding the music box. Looking down at it, she frowned.

There was a catch in the wood near the bottom, like there was a drawer underneath it. She popped it open with her nail, pulling open a small drawer.

Inside of it was a small silver charm bracelet- the type that children often wear. Pulling it out, she turned it over in her hands.

The charms were all a little tarnished, like it had been worn a lot. It clearly was Meghan’s bracelet- there was an M, and a heart, and a magazine.

It was the last two that caught her eye. One of them was a dress mannequin charm. She wondered why Meghan would have wanted that, then figured she was probably just being paranoid.

The other was like a tiny round locket. It had a flower engraved on the front, and a catch on the side, but when she went to pop it open she found it was stuck.

She looked at the whole bracelet again, and then stopped short. It looked almost as if someone had added links to make it larger- large enough for an adult to wear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so Howard is kind of a hard character to write because you have to dance this weird line of creepy and crazy and trying-to-be-nice.  
> I promise there'll be more action soon.


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They had no way of knowing what was coming.  
> But they knew to be afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I'm so sorry this took so long I started university and got into some shit and life took a...really weird turn, for a while, and I'm sorry but I promise I'll update more often from now on.

Weeks went by normally.

No more weird presents.

They alternated cooking now. Every couple of days Michelle would try to make something new out of the recipe book. Usually she ended up recruiting Emmett, who, despite only having one usable arm, was still fairly helpful. 

Her food wasn’t always great, but it wasn’t bad, either, so no one commented. 

She and Emmett continued their talks- their attempts at planning. But they had no real ideas, no real plan. They just needed the company- needed to be able to see each other. Needed moments without Howard hovering over them, making everything weird and stilted and uncomfortable. 

So they hung out together, during the “night”- when Howard said they should go to sleep- that way he wouldn’t realize how much time they spent which just each other. 

Again, they should have realized he had cameras up everywhere. They should have realized that nowhere in his bunker could they possibly actually be free of him. 

It was his bunker. And while they had seen most of it, they knew they hadn’t seen all of it. There was a door, in his room, at the foot of his bed. Michelle had noticed it when she was using the bathroom one time, and wondered where it led. It wasn’t a closet, because all of Howard’s clothing was on a clothing rack next to the “bathroom”. 

It was just…another part of the bunker. Something neither of them were allowed to know about. 

Emmett still didn’t have a room. He stayed in the hallway outside of Michelle’s room, wedged in between a shelf and a wall. 

He was very careful not to bump the shelf too much. Michelle had learned that before she had been here- and when she’d first gotten there- he’d bumped the shelves over, which had resulted in a very volatile reaction from Howard. 

He honestly spent most of his time either in the main area, or in Michelle’s room. He only left her room when he felt himself drifting off, so that Howard wouldn’t catch them. 

She felt bad, but there wasn’t a whole lot that she could do about it. They both tried to limit their interactions with Howard, and there weren’t any other rooms Emmett could stay in.

She gave him one of her blankets. It wasn’t always cold in the bunker- air conditioning took more energy from the generator- but she figured it would be comforting, at least. He seemed to appreciate it.

She never said anything, but she appreciated knowing that he was right outside her door. He had said he was a pretty light sleeper, and she knew she wasn’t, so if Howard tried to come down the hall at least one of them would be awake. 

She was still terrified. Ever since she had learned about Brittany, she’d been afraid of why she was there. What Howard wanted from her. And it only got worse when she tried to sleep- she was unable to relax, to be willing to drift off, to let her defenses down. There wasn’t a whole lot she could do- she wasn’t big, wasn’t strong, and knew she’d lose any fight against Howard- but her conscious defense was all she had. It was the only thing she had left within her control.

That, and her secret conversations with Emmett.

He was sweet. He clearly was also terrified of Howard, and it felt like there was more of a story there than he was letting on- somehow, Michelle understood that while he broke his arm trying to get in, it was Howard who had actually done it. And that wasn’t the only time that Howard had hurt him. 

She cared about Emmett. And while it was nice- she liked him, and liked having the company- it was also stressful. Howard clearly didn’t like him, and she worried about what was going to happen. She worried that Howard was going to do something to Emmet, once he for sick of this weird, domestic façade he had going on. 

She didn’t know what she’d do without Emmett. She wouldn’t know how to deal with Howard by herself.

He hovered, and treated her like a child, and just in general made her uncomfortable. But his weird obsession with having everything feel normal and domestic means that whenever Emmett is there, she felt safe, in a weird way. 

It was like they had to put on this front, as if they were a family. But she knew it couldn’t last, and worried what would happen when it broke. It kept her up at night. It woke her up in a panic in the morning. 

It had her going out in the hallway to sit with Emmett after only 2 hours of sleep. 

And yet, while she had all this fear, she wasn’t sure she’d pick the unknown that was outside over it. She didn’t know if the world had ended, didn’t know if the air outside was breathable. 

So instead, she and Emmett hung out together. They tried to provide comfort for each other.

And they tried to plan, in secret. 

But there’s no secrets in the bunker.

And behind the door in his room, Howard watched. There were cameras covering every single angle of the bunker, and they recorded everything they saw. And he watched. He watched, and judged, and planned, and was filled with rage. How dare they do this to him, in his own home, after he had provided them safety?

How dare they disrespect him like this?

Something would have to be done.

But he needed to make sure it would be a lesson that would stick.

So he tried to plan, to make sure he knew what he was going to do. To make sure it was a plan that would provide the perfect amount of punishment and fear, without doing any real damage to her perfect princess.

But the other. He was…going to be taught a lesson. He was going to be shown what happened when you disrespect Howard in his own home.

He just had to be sure he did it when they weren’t expecting it. He needed to be sure that he had them completely under his control- he couldn’t afford this going badly. He couldn’t lose another daughter, not like he had before.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so this story is gonna get intense. Hope you like it?


End file.
